Arnold Schwarzenegger Briefly Touches On His First Steroid Cycle

The first thing of note is that he discovered steroid use before the 1967 Mr. Universe competition while researching about the training methods of the East Germans and the Soviets.

There were rumors that they were using performance enhancing drugs to get superior results from their weightlifters, shot-putters, and swimmers and he soon found out that steroids were the drugs that they were using.

Arnold goes on to touch on how he went to a doctor to ask for a prescription of anabolic steroids.

He simply asked:

Can you let me try it?

The doctor agreed, and he was then prescribed an injection every two weeks and pills to take in between.

His dosages may have titrated up in subsequent cycles, and he probably experimented with different anabolics at some point at least once or twice.

The more muscle you gain, the higher your requirements will become for increasingly high amounts of calories, training volume, and drug use to support additional hypertrophy above and beyond what you have already achieved.

While Arnold didn't state exactly what he was prescribed, we get some useful insight into the administration practice of each compound (oral and injectable) and what type of drugs would probably fall into these two categories at that time when considering all of the other information from other interviews we have compiled over the years.

At this point, we know he was using one injectable compound and one oral compound.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Interview About Dianabol Use

In another interview Arnold more or less implies that he used 3 Dianabol per day.

It is well-known in the community that Arnold was big on using Dianabol back in the day.

Obviously he's not actually straight up saying “this was what my cycle was”, but we can put two and two together based on his prescription for pills and an injection from a doctor, Arnold talking about Dianabol himself, and the widespread information that's passed through the grapevine reinforcing his Dianabol use.

It all culminates to paint a pretty convincing picture that Dianabol was the oral steroid in question that Arnold used.

What the injectable compound was is mainly what is debated about.

After doing some digging, I uncovered some pretty convincing information suggesting that the injectable compound was Primobolan.

Steve Davis Outlines Golden Era Steroid Cycles

Both men trained at Gold's Gym with Arnold in the 70's and had personal insight into what golden era stacks consisted of, as they literally took the same stacks themselves.

Steve Davis

After prompting the topic of what golden era bodybuilders were using, Steve goes on to touch on what most guys were using:

Steve: You know, in my era, it was 3 Dianabol a day and a shot a week.

Ric: That's exactly right.

Steve: And we heard that certain Austrians were taking 4 Dianabol a day and a shot a week.

Ric: Yeah.

I'm sure both Steve and Ric actually had this conversation with Arnold at some point to confirm this, as they trained with him and bodybuilders were supposedly pretty open about their use back then.

The standard protocol going around then was 3 Dianabol a day, and 1 shot of Primobolan per week.

While some of the protocols definitely differed from person to person (e.g. Robby Robinson and Danny Padilla using Deca-only cycles), for the most part it seems like the majority of guys that trained with Arnold in Gold's Gym in the 70's were doing the same thing.

Now, the question is are they underplaying their use to not undervalue their training intensity and diet adherence?

Perhaps.

It is very common for “open” individuals to talk about their steroid use, but basically just cut what their dosages are in half when speaking about what they took.

Ric Drasin Details Golden Era Steroid Cycles

In 2018 Ric Drasin circles back to the topic of golden era steroid cycles and outlines more specifics about what steroids the top bodybuilders from Gold's Gym were using in the 70's.

Now I was there at that time, so I know exactly what everybody took.

Without using names of people because I don't want to implicate anybody, but starting with the top bodybuilders, and some that you know, it wasn't that much

Testosterone really didn't come onto the scene 'til the late 70's, early 80s'.

I have no idea how factual that purported titration schedule was, but it still reinforces the likelihood that Arnold's steroids of choice were Dbol and Primobolan.

Frank Zane's Semi-Cryptic Poem About Golden Era Steroid Cycles

The nail in the coffin in my opinion is Frank Zane's poem.

In Frank Zane's “Mind, Body, Spirit” training diary, one Reddit user actually found a poem that essentially breaks down in code what the top bodybuilders took in the golden era.

Diana Bowl and Louie.

Prima bowl on

TV, both of whom

worked as a team.

Known for miles around

as the best bowlers in town,

Primo drove 100 miles a week

combining 15 milly Gramola bars daily from Diana

not worried about getting fat, you cannot

not on that in those days.

But that was then, this is now

a growing cast of actors shove, share center stage

all playing the same part at the same time

I awoke amazed, wondering how

this ridiculous play isn't dying by now.

Obviously, anyone can see plain as day he's trying to allude to certain things in code here to outline what drugs guys were taking back then, as well as what appears to be his perspective on modern day bodybuilding as a whole compared to the golden era.

The first thing, “Diana Bowl.”

Obviously, that's Dianabol.

“Prima bowl on.”

Primobolan.

“Primo drove 100 miles a week.”

100 milligrams per week of Primobolan, which reinforces the one shot a week of Primobolan that Arnold supposedly got.

“Combining 15 milly Gramola bars daily from Diana”

15 milligrams per day of Dianabol (Dbol) combined with the weekly shot of Primo.

After the part where he talks about 100 milligrams of Primo per week and the 15 milligrams of Dianabol per day he says:

“But that was then, this is now.

A growing cast of actors shove, share center stage.

All playing the same part at the same time.

I awoke amazed, wondering how this ridiculous play isn't dying by now.”

I assume this part refers to his perspective of modern day bodybuilding compared to the golden era and how this generation abuses high dosages of multiple drugs, and how much of a travesty he believes bodybuilding has become.

I believe it more or less stands for everything wrong with modern-day bodybuilding.

The excessive mass chasing, the insane dosages of drugs, and him being amazed the “play isn't dying by now” perhaps alluding to the fact that bodybuilding has continued to remain popular despite an increasing amount of young bodybuilders dropping dead from drug abuse.

There's a lot to take in from that poem.

Dianabol (Dbol) And Primobolan Dosages

Ric Drasin and Frank Zane both trained with Arnold and seem to be credible sources of information.

Frank Zane is a Mr. Olympia winner himself and would know better than anyone what others from Gold's Gym were using.

The cumulative evidence strongly suggests that Arnold was at minimum using a shot of Primobolan per week and 3-4 Dianabol per day.

It is entirely possible that those dosages titrated up over the years, but in general we at least know that those were likely the compounds he used to build his physique.

CIBA Dianabol was prescribed in 2.5 and 5 milligram oral tablets.

All forms of Bayer Primobolan Depot were packaged in one milliliter glass ampules and contained 100 milligrams of Metenolone Enanthate.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Steroid Cycle

Based on the information provided, we can assume that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s steroid cycle consisted of 15-20 milligrams of Dianabol per day and 100 milligrams of Primobolan per week.

Those are very conservative dosages by today's standards, and this was reinforced by every one in the golden era who has spoke out about the steroid use in that tight knit circle of bodybuilders Arnold hung out with.

Obviously they could be wrong or lying, but I think their stories line up too well with each other for it to not be at least somewhat true.

Hopefully that lays some myths to rest and sheds light on what the golden era bodybuilders were actually doing to achieve the physiques that everyone strives for nowadays.

Nowadays, guys abuse excessive amounts of drugs in hopes of achieving golden era physiques, when the golden era guys were actually using a fraction of what teenage kids are cycling on nowadays.

Granted, there may be a huge disparity in product quality between the pharmaceutical grade products available in the golden era compared to the UGL stuff most guys are using now.

However, I do not believe that to be the case, with the exception of product purity and complete dosage accuracy.

Most top UGL's are pretty on point and aren't far off of pharmaceutical quality, so to me that point usually just comes across as an excuse that guys use to justify using massive dosages, or for their lackluster results.

The golden era steroid dosages were far more reasonable than most would otherwise believe had they not seen this stuff, or heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

I don't think you will find a more credible resource than Arnold, Frank, Ric, and Steve themselves who have opened up about the standard dosages used in that era, with their statements all lining up with eachother.

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This study was undertaken to evaluate the Anabolic’ effects of methandienone on men undergoing athletic training

The dosage was 100mg a day for 6 weeks

Now you do have to ask if the greatest BB in the World at that time 5 time Mr O Arnold was using 30 mg a day.. what where these guys doing ” testing 100mg a day” on Joe Average.. with very average results ?

It far more likely that they where testing what was being used by Athletes at that time ? maybe ?

Ya I highly doubt his use was ever limited to the 3 pills a day and a shot a week. Maybe his first cycle, but cycles thereafter I’m sure he titrated up just like anyone else would logically conclude as the appropriate next step at that time. Whether he got up to a gram of Primo and 700 mg of Dbol per week though, who knows.

” We have heard of doses of up to 300 mg/day being taken by athletes, but there is no evidence, objective or anecdotal, that these huge doses achieve any greater effect than the doses used by us. On the other hand, we have heard of cases of jaundice, prostatism, hypertension, gastrointestinal haemorrhage, increases and decreases of libido, oligospermia and aggressiveness associated with steroid usage, though once again there is no evidence of dose-dependence. Indeed, some men are known to have taken large doses for at least two years without ill-effect. “

All the magic was in the Dianabol. Anyone who has taken 15-20mg of Dianabol per day by itself knows how powerful of a drug it is. The 100mg of primo or whatever wouldn’t have even mattered because 15-20mg of Dianabol is powerful enough. If one takes 20mg of Dianabol per day for 10 weeks, one will be a monster. Franco Columbu has obvious gyno in his later competitive years so obviously some people pushed it.